And now for something completely different! W2 and Wrought Iron

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

W2 Steel - super clean high carbon tool steel with Vanadium, W2 is top notch material and the choice for many high end customs. W2 is water hardening so I will use a brine solution to quench the steel.

Wrought Iron - recovered from an 1880's Lake Superior lake side grain elevator!

Real wrought iron is rare material, no longer produced. It was used long ago when a strong and somewhat corrosion resistant material was needed. It has a fibrous structure that adds strength and was used for ironclad battle ships, anchor chains and even the Eiffel Tower.


I'm hoping to make a semi-traditional Japanese Tanto with a wrought iron guard! I'm likely going to try for a nice hamon and will be etching the wrought iron guard to show the beautiful grain structure.



Straightening the W2 - it comes pretty straight but I had to take a tiny bend out of it, always a big challenge to get right. Luckily this W2 is extremely soft so I could use my tiny vise.

 

[TheOTBalisong]

Wow, that's amazing,

I haven't seen Wrought Iron being used in a knife for a long time.
Can't wait to see how this turns out.

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

My primitive sawing setup, it does the job!

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

Wow, that's amazing,

I haven't seen Wrought Iron being used in a knife for a long time.
Can't wait to see how this turns out.

Thanks! I am excited to use the wrought iron, it is always fun to do something different.


Materials

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

I drilled some .25" holes to start the guard slot

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

After more scribing, drilling and lots of rough filing

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

So far, so good!

 

[Matt Markell]

Subscribed! And watching eagerly!

 

[SID-SWITCH-BLADE]

Thanks for showing the building process, it's fun. I have the same Westcott steel ruler at work. I feel closer to you now Daniel ; ) I'll check back tomorrow for hopefully more pics of this cool project. Good night.

 

[Lycosa]

Daniel- Very nice!
Have you considered using CF or G!0 as a guard?

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

Subscribed! And watching eagerly!

Thanks for showing the building process, it's fun. I have the same Westcott steel ruler at work. I feel closer to you now Daniel ; ) I'll check back tomorrow for hopefully more pics of this cool project. Good night.

That ruler rules!

I am already about half worn out today, I am debating lots of file work after lunch, lol! I can't wait to finish this one though, it has been in the plans for a long time. I am going for a somewhat traditional look, much different than my other tantos.

Daniel- Very nice!
Have you considered using CF or G!0 as a guard?

That would be awesome, WT style! I probably look up that katana he made with the CF guard once a week to drool at it.

Thanks!

 

[fast14riot]

So do you not get much sori in the quench? I see you have it dsigned into your blank. I have heard of people quenching spine first with fast oils and W2 to get the right sori because it will often go only one way, not both like in water. How thick is the W2 stock?


-Xander

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

So do you not get much sori in the quench? I see you have it dsigned into your blank. I have heard of people quenching spine first with fast oils and W2 to get the right sori because it will often go only one way, not both like in water. How thick is the W2 stock?


-Xander

So far with a water quench I have gotten a decent amount of Sori... I ground it a bit straighter than the quick diagram on the steel but I did want some curve built in just in case. With thicker steel I get less sori, this was thick stuff.

So far this has been a great lesson, I tried something completely new to me and it has worked out well. I spent a ton of time on the guard and managed to get a nearly seamless fit.... unfortunately yesterday at the end of a long day I decided to grind the bevel and screwed that up! I have only done that twice in about a year, lol it figures it would be on this. I still feel it was a big victory, my first guard and it looked great. I will order some W2 next time I talk to Aldo and finish it up. Next time I will keep the spine straight and leave the curve up to the quench Gods. As you know with water you can get lots of upward curve!

 

[IMWILSON]

Sooo, is it so screwed up that we are gonna see it made into W2 kiridashi's?

 

[fast14riot]

Yeah fitting guards is time consuming. But its even more frustrating when you do it before HT. The blade changes shape so much in HT that the guard will never fit right after. I fit them after HT now. A little tip, you can pein around the edge of the opening to help seal up any gaps. Then grind the face flat. Now try it on a guard the size of your US M3, I think I made three complete guards for that knife before I finally got it right!

Well, keep at it! Perfect Practice makes permanantly Perfect!


-Xander

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

Sooo, is it so screwed up that we are gonna see it made into W2 kiridashi's?

No, I threw it in the "forging steel" pile. I figure eventually I can hammer it into something cool. I tried to turn it into sort of a bayonet but that did not work out, lol.

But... W2 Kiridashis will likely happen, I was just thinking they would be awesome. I saw some 1" tall stock online that would be excellent. Hamons too!

W2 could be thought up as a cleaner, souped up 1095. I think it is one of the best steels, period.

Yeah fitting guards is time consuming. But its even more frustrating when you do it before HT. The blade changes shape so much in HT that the guard will never fit right after. I fit them after HT now. A little tip, you can pein around the edge of the opening to help seal up any gaps. Then grind the face flat. Now try it on a guard the size of your US M3, I think I made three complete guards for that knife before I finally got it right!

Well, keep at it! Perfect Practice makes permanantly Perfect!


-Xander

No I made it tight for a press fit, it was about 3/8" from the guard fit wise. I press fit it anyways just to see. I know post HT is would be different but wrought iron is soft enough to do that. I was planning on a seppa and possibly fuchi for it too. Good to point out though, if I did not know that it would have been a waste on the next one too!

I tapered the fit too as well as keeping the edges where the guard fit fully rounded, I think I will stick to that method for what I want to do. It looked cool!!!

The guard you made on the M3 mini is so tight I bet there is no gap period, not even under a microscope! That knife is too cool!



* a seppa is a decorative washer that goes on before the guard, a fuchi is a "collar" that goes on the handle side of the guard

 

[SID-SWITCH-BLADE]

No Pictures today : ( Maybe tomorrow. You are the man sending replies to every comment your fans make on here. Very admirable. Thanks for putting in the cyber time along witht the fabrication time.

 

[shaymanx]

..., I threw it in the "forging steel" pile...

When do we get to see those forged knives? I'm a fan! :thumbup:

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

No Pictures today : ( Maybe tomorrow. You are the man sending replies to every comment your fans make on here. Very admirable. Thanks for putting in the cyber time along witht the fabrication time.

Hey thanks! I really enjoy the interaction and the forum, you guys are great!

When do we get to see those forged knives? I'm a fan! :thumbup:

One day... I have a nice anvil back home and need to set up a forge, stock removal is what I like to do but forging is really cool!

 

[SID-SWITCH-BLADE]

Ok, i'm starting to get a little depressed now. Lots of bridges between NJ and Philly, please post some Wrought updates or my jump could cost you some future sales ; ) seriously though did you step away from this project for a minute? Damn it's late gotta go to sleep. good night.. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.